princess of cleves

Although Dangerous Liaisons and The Princess of Clèves are extremely similar in both plot and theme, many differences in the two novels are apparent to the reader. Both stories describe a virtuous woman tempted by the love of a man to forsake her doctrine, but while each tells of a woman who thinks her "resolutions can hold out against a man who adores [her]" (de La Fayette 156), there is a definite divergence in the …

…however they like, so long as they take the necessary precautions. She paints another ruthless picture of herself for Valmont as she reveals how she "created" herself. De La Fayette justifies Madame de Clèves's need to protect herself and remain chaste as her mother warns her "how insincere men are, how false and deceitful" (76). With such presumptuous statements about the opposite sex, it is almost impossible for the authors to keep their genders unknown.